From Rs 99 Crore To Netflix Debut: How Imtiaz Ali Went All Out For Main Vaapas Aaunga

Not all films have a journey quite like that of Imtiaz Ali's Main Vaapas Aaunga. A film that was once doomed to fail eventually spread its wings, and, as is often the case with an Imtiaz Ali film, gained the title of a sleeper hit within weeks.
Imtiaz Ali's tryst with cult classics has been etched in every cinephile's memory. Be it Tamasha, Rockstar or, more recently, Laila Majnu, Imtiaz Ali does get a taste of success, but it usually takes its own sweet time.

With Main Vaapas Aaunga, Imtiaz Ali decided to take matters into his own hands. In retrospect, it seems that his personal push - being present as he travelled from city to city and theatre to theatre, conversing with overwhelmed fans who applauded after watching the film - played a major role. It all seemed like a journey that was taking place both on and off the screen.

Main Vaapas Aaunga is not an easy watch. It tugs at your heartstrings with its heartbreaking Partition story. Naseeruddin Shah, in one of his finest performances, plays a 95-year-old man - Ishar Grewal grappling with dementia and Alzheimer's while bearing a heart still suffering from the trauma of the Partition. Estranged from the love of his life, Jia (Sharvari), he has only one wish on his deathbed: to return to his ancestral home in Sargodha and to his love, because he promised, "Main Vaapas Aaunga."

For a film that was written off and opened to a mere collection of Rs 1.15 crore net on Day 1, with its first-weekend collection culminating at around Rs 5.50 crore to Rs 5.63 crore net, Main Vaapas Aaunga recently completed a glorious 50-day run in theatres. It is a feat that ought to be cherished in such dire times, when every film fights for its place to stay.

Personal promotional runs and the rampant circulation of word of mouth on social media led to a lucrative rise in box-office numbers, along with an increase in screens and shows as audience demand surged.

Imtiaz Ali Did Not Hold Back

As of today, Main Vaapas Aaunga has recorded Rs 77.23 crore as its India gross collection, Rs 21.98 crore in overseas gross collections and a mighty impressive worldwide total of Rs 99.21 crore.

This film has been a quintessential example of how audience appreciation can cause a major turnaround, and Imtiaz Ali was a mix of happy, overwhelmed and grateful.

The director went all out this time. As we all know, his films often gain cult status much later. A trend even went viral on social media, with fans joking about Main Vaapas Aaunga and urging audiences to go and watch the film in theatres now, and call it a cult classic later.

Imtiaz Ali himself was seen travelling across cities, from Mumbai to Delhi and Kolkata, and then to Bengaluru and Pune. Several videos of him interacting with teary-eyed viewers, especially those from the senior generations, were making the rounds online.

That was because Main Vaapas Aaunga evoked an emotion in everyone - across genders, age groups and 'borders'. At its core, this was a story of love: one that transcends time, simmering in the throes of deep longing, nostalgia and the pain of separation.

In an age of instant reels and even more instant validation, Main Vaapas Aaunga made a human connection, and perhaps that is what led to it gaining sleeper-hit status.

Imtiaz Ali shared a series of reels on his social media, thanking distributors and exhibitors for showing their love and support to a film that needed that push - that needed to be carried and reach far and wide.

Several industry colleagues from veteran filmmakers such as Subhash Ghai, Anurag Kashyap, and Subhash Ghai to actors such as Kartik Aaryan and Ayushmann Khurrana showered love on the film endlessly.

This is something that, in recent memory, does not remind us of anything Imtiaz Ali has ever done before. From sharing endless videos expressing gratitude to major film chains such as Wave Cinemas, Regal Cinemas, Cineworld and Cineplex, his heartfelt words echoed his utmost gratitude towards the multiplexes for listening to the hearts of the audience who made Main Vaapas Aaunga what it became.

Main Vaapas Aaunga - For All Generations, To All Generations

It is a rarity for a film to resonate with audiences across all age groups in the way Main Vaapas Aaunga did. The Gen Z crowd might have thronged to the theatres out of FOMO, wondering: what was this film? Why was everyone so grief-stricken and bittersweet about it at the same time?

The younger generation saw a part of themselves in it. Often termed the loneliest generation ever, they viewed the film through the lens of modern emotional longing and digital-age separations.

As for the older crowd, social media was flooded with stories of grandparents, children and grandchildren sharing tales they had heard about the Partition.

The atrocity, the emotional devastation, the communal disharmony and the wreckage it caused to women and family ties - all of it raised questions that would never receive answers.

Glimpses of group crying sessions in theatres, as audiences watched the film, were also widely circulated. Imtiaz Ali was seen quietly witnessing it all before the final curtain call, as the audience rushed to speak to him and tell him how the film had taken them back to a past they would never want to revisit, but whose sensitive handling brought both happy and sad tears to their eyes. For Main Vaapas Aaunga was the story of countless young and old hearts who lived through a trauma that could never be healed.

Week by week, day by day, Main Vaapas Aaunga stayed true to the intent of the film and passed with flying colours. As the film has arrived on Netflix after almost two months, it certainly shows promise of receiving the same amount of love, for the main battle has been conquered, always at the movies.

ALSO READ | Main Vaapas Aaunga Clocks 50 Days In Cinemas, Imtiaz Ali Calls It A "Rare Feat"